This invention relates to amplifiers and analog to digital converts, and more particularly, programmable gain preamplifiers coupled to analog to digital converters.
Preamplifiers are utilized for a variety of purposes. A common application for preamplifiers is to amplify low voltage level signals which are to be processed by circuitry that operates at higher voltage levels. For example, a preamplifier may be used to amplify a transducer output (a thermocouple output, strain gauge output, thermistor output, etc.) prior to processing the transducer output in other signal processing circuitry. Transducer signals often are amplified because most transducers produce only low voltage outputs while the other signal processing circuitry may operate at a significantly higher voltage range. For example, a thermocouple may provide an output signal having a range of 2.5 mV while an analog to digital converter (ADC) utilized to convert the thermocouple output into a digital signal may operate at a 2.5V full scale voltage. Therefore, a preamplifier may be utilized to amplify the transducer output prior to processing the output signal with the ADC. Because the signal processing circuitry (for example an ADC) may have a relatively high noise density, the use of a preamplifier reduces the signal processing circuit""s output noise when that noise is input-referred to the preamplifier input (i.e., the noise at the signal processing circuitry output is divided by the gain). However, the use of a preamplifier typically has a dynamic range drawback since improved low end dynamic range is provided at the expense of high end dynamic range. It is thus desirable to provide a preamplifier configuration which avoids high end dynamic range loss.
The amount of amplification required to be provided by the preamplifier may vary depending upon the transducer output characteristics. Thus, a programmable preamplifier which may be programmed to different gain values is desirable so that a single preamplifier may be used with a variety of input voltage signals. For example, the preamplifier input may be switchably coupled to a plurality of different transducer inputs and each transducer may have a different output voltage characteristic. In such circumstances it is desirable to adjust the preamplifier gain depending upon the signal level presented at the preamplifier input.
Typical preamplifier configurations are comprised of operational amplifiers (opamp) and resistors. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical preamplifier configuration. As shown in FIG. 1, the preamplifier 1 is comprised of an opamp 3 and resistors R1-R4. By selectively closing one of the switches Sa, Sb, and Sc, the gain of the preamplifier may be programmably set. Ideally the closed switch would provide negligible resistance and the gain at the opamp output Vopamp/Vin would be independent of the switch resistance. However, because the switch is not ideal and adds some gain error due to its resistance, the preamplifier output may chosen at the nodes Vout1, Vout2 or Vout3 so that any error caused by the switch resistance is negated. Thus, it can be shown that for equal values for resistors R1-R4 if Sa is closed Vout1/Vin=2, if Sb is closed Vout/Vin=3, and if Sc is closed Vout3/Vin=4 (i.e., the gain equals X, where the number of resistors between Vout and the inverting input of the opamp is Xxe2x88x921).
Monolithic implementations of circuits such as that shown in FIG. 1 may have gain drifts with temperature in excess of 4 or 5 ppm (parts per million) per degree Celsius. The predominate mechanism producing such drift may be the drift of the gain setting resistor strings. One approach to minimize the effect of the drift of the resistor string is to remove from resistor string contacts from the resistor string current path. Such a technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,319 to Kerth, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The preamplifier of U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,319 is not, however, easily adapted to provide a preamplifier configuration which avoids high end dynamic range loss as discussed above.
A variety of types of analog to digital converters (xe2x80x9cADCsxe2x80x9d) are commonly employed for converting analog input signals to a digital output. One type of ADC is a successive approximation ADC. A switched capacitor array is one type of successive approximation ADC. Switched capacitor array ADCs are known in the art as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,863 to Gray et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,225 to Welland et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,853 to Kiriaki, and in Lee et al., xe2x80x9cA Self-Calibrating 15 Bit CMOS A/D Converter,xe2x80x9d IEEE JSSC, December 1984, p. 813-819. Switched capacitor approaches generally provide good temperature drift and aging characteristics.
Another type of successive approximation ADC is a switched resistor capacitor array ADC. Switched resistor capacitor array ADCs are known in the art as shown in Fotouhi, xe2x80x9cHigh-Resolution Successive Approximation Analog To Digital Conversion Techniques In MOS Integrated Circuitsxe2x80x9d Dissertation, University of California, 1980, p. 86-93. The switched resistor capacitor array ADC, however, suffers from inaccuracies in the resistor array, resistor temperature drift, and resistor aging drift, all of which may be substantial.
The present invention provides a solution to one or more of the disadvantages and deficiencies described above. In one broad respect, a programmable gain preamplifier is provided which has a low temperature drift and good dynamic range characteristics. The programmable gain preamplifier provides a programmable gain of the difference between two input signals (Ain and Ainxe2x80x2 for example). One of the input signals (Ainxe2x80x2) may be an estimation of the other input signal (Ain). The estimation input signal (or a signal related to the estimated input) may be generated by the use of a reference voltage and a first resistor string. More particularly, the reference voltage and the first resistor string may operate as a digital to analog converter (DAC) that converts a digital estimation signal to an analog estimation voltage. The analog estimation voltage operates as an analog voltage that is a function of (or the same as) the analog Ainxe2x80x2 estimation signal. The first resistor string may provide the estimation voltage without loading the resistor string. Thus, the first resistor string may be simultaneously utilized by other circuitry, such as for example, a downstream ADC. The programmable preamplifier gain may be set by the use of a second resistor string and digitally programmable switches. Contacts to the resistors strings may be placed outside of the current path of each resistor string to provide highly stable resistor strings having a very low temperature drift. In one preamplifier embodiment, some or all of the opamps may chopper stabilized opamps, at least one opamp may be a current feedback opamp, the resistor strings may be at least 64 resistors long and programmable gains from 1 to 32 may be provided.
In another broad aspect, a programmable gain preamplifier is provided which has a low temperature drift and good dynamic range characteristics. The programmable gain preamplifier may be coupled to an analog to digital converter. The analog to digital converter may be a switched capacitor array analog to digital converter. The analog to digital converter may be a resistor array and capacitor array analog to digital converter. A resistor string having contacts out of the resistor string current path may be utilized with the programmable gain preamplifier or the analog to digital converter or both. The resistor string may be utilized to calibrate the analog to digital converter or the programmable gain preamplifier or both. The resistor string may also be utilized by the analog to digital converter when conversions are being performed. The programmable gain preamplifier provides a programmable gain of the difference between two input signals (Ain and Ainxe2x80x2 for example). One of the input signals (Ainxe2x80x2) may be an estimation of the other input signal (Ain).